The Forever Gang II

Luke entered his shop and walked back to the counter rather calmly.

Inwardly, he was exploding with great joy. "That was mad. Was I always this strong or were they weaker than I expected?" Luke asked no one in particular.

"There's no way they were weak. If it had happened yesterday, I'd probably die fighting one of them." Luke concluded.

His body instinctively reacted to the attacks and even countered before he could think of what to do. It felt like he had trained for years to reach this level but it had only been one night. He felt like he still lacked the necessary strength but there was something that made up for that aspect.

Speaking of it, he remembered that energy that had flowed into his hand when his blow collided with his last opponent's fist. That was something he'd never felt in his entire life.

"Was that the divine 'mana' everyone kept talking about? That was epic. I better learn how to use it if it's truly 'mana'. I can't get enough of this crazy feeling. Ah… that was deeply satisfying." Luke was so happy whenever he remembered the last blow.

Ding.

The front door opened and an old man walked into the store.

According to the shop's courtesy, Luke shouted. "Wel…come." He saw who had entered.

"Old man Jarod. You're back. Welcome old man." Luke dipped his head lower than he had done to customers.

"Hoho. It's nice to see that you're still alive. With your character, I thought the gang would've beaten you to death or you'd be knocking on death's door." The old man joked.

"Hehe, I sent them running away. I'm not someone they should toy with." Luke replied with pride.

"That so? Hey, what's with the golds lying on the counter?" The old shop owner asked.

"Oh, I totally forgot about these." Luke said and placed the coins back into a drawer on the counter.

"So why were those coins lying on the counter?" The old man questioned Luke.

"That should've been their payment but they left without it." Luke answered and smiled.

"Left without it? what did you do?" The old man was getting more tensed by the seconds.

"Oh, I just fought with them and won and they had to keep their promise by leaving without taking a dime." Luke responded.

"Tell me everything that happened." The old man was already sweating.

"Sure. They arrived, asking for the usual payment which I gave to them immediately…" Luke explained the whole story to the shop owner. He told the old man about how they had asked for an extra gold coin, saying it was an order from their boss, he told the old man how he had refused to add the extra coin no matter how they threatened him.

The old man was proud to have such a worker brimming with youthful vigor, but at the same time, he feared for Luke.

Luke told the old man how they had planned to do damage to the store and he had instead asked for a fight. He explained the rules of the fight and how he had won. Of course, he omitted the mana-induced punch which had knocked their leader off his feet. The gangsters had left after their leader was defeated and they took not a single dime from the shop as promised. Not that they could take it even if they tried to break the promise. They had seen their leader go unconscious after a punch that threw him to the other side of the street. He had broken a few bones and believed his treatment came first, so they hurriedly left to treat him.

"That's all." Luke said as his story came to an end.

"Phew… I'm not going to scold you or anything but now, you've brought a huge disaster upon yourself. Now, the whole gang would definitely come looking for you. You'll have to stay away from work for a few days till this issue is settled. Let's close the store for today." The old man warned Luke.

"No can't do. I'm not leaving anytime soon. I still have two hours before I'm done for the day. And what do you mean by 'until the issue is resolved'? Who do you think they'll come for if they don't find me? It's you old man and I can't let that happen. I'm hungry for a huge fight so let's make it happen." Luke answered with determination etched onto his whole being.

"No! I won't let that happen. What if you die? Members of the gang are known to be ruthless." The old man insisted that Luke go home immediately.

"I won't die old man, but if I do, you can sleep peacefully knowing it was my decision." Luke was determined to clash with the forever gang.

"Old man, it's getting late." Luke said an hour later. The old man had refused to leave the shop.

"No, it's not. This is my shop and I'll leave whenever I want." The man insisted.

"You should really leave. I'm getting ready to close the store for today." Luke added.

"Really?" The man seemed to have found hope but it died as soon as it came.

"Nope. I still have an hour before closing time." Luke laughed.

"You little twerp. I'll break your head myself." The old man didn't expect Luke's reply.

"But honestly, I'll be closing soon. I have a little less than an hour before I close so I'll just have to start taking the records of the stock in the store." Luke walked to the first shelf and wrote in a book, the list of items on the shelf. Then on to the next one, he went and did the same thing. Recording the items and quantities, something he always did before closing the store for the day and immediately after opening the next day.

Soon enough, he walked back. "Old man, I'm done." He looked at his watch. Seven minutes left before he would close the shop. He walked over to a shelf and took out three bags of chips, and on the book he had just used, he reduced the quantity of the chips he had taken by three. In a different book, he wrote three bags of chips. Items on this book would be deducted from his salary. He placed two bags of chips in his bag and opened the last one and began to eat.

Seven minutes quickly passed. "Old man, it's time to close for the day." Luke shouted and the man finally stood up from the chair he had been sitting on for the last two hours.

After closing the shop, Luke greeted the old man once more. "Be careful out there kid. They might hit you when you least expect it." The old man warned before leaving.

"See you tomorrow old man." Luke walked in the opposite direction the man had left. He held a bag of chips in his hand and ate it along the way, humming a sound he would forever remember.

"Boss, he's out of the shop and heading home. He'll soon arrive at the intersection." Someone spoke through his phone hiding beside a building a good number of meters away from Luke.

Luke had noticed the stalker and had approached him secretly and when he got closer, he heard what the man had said. They seemed to know his route home but he was rather happy to know that they wanted to end it once and for all. He would have to break more than a few bones on this beautiful sunset. First of all, he knocked the stalker unconscious and then continued his journey towards the intersection where the forever gang waited for him.